Best Gift

 

north wall

south wall

Doug and I don't need much and if we need something we go buy it.  So gifts generally amount to us saying 'what do you want?  OK, happy birthday.  Or Christmas.  Or whatever.'

My office is the smallest bedroom in the house and since there are a shit tonne of office type 'jobs' I have done over the years, the workspace got crammed with decades (literally) of computer stuff.  Software, hardware, supplies.  

Over the years I have tried to clear some of the clutter but never very successfully.  I could work, but it was cramped.

Lately, since I've been working at clearing out the studio, it has begun to really wear on me at the state of my office.  Then the printer threatened to die and needed to be replaced before I was in the middle of a big job.  I found the exact same printer for sale (one only!  On sale!) and figured at least the ink cartridges I had purchased as back up (all those dark o'clock last minute print jobs that needed doing - which is when a cartridge will run out!) would not go to waste.  So I bought it.

But that meant getting rid of the old printer and I thought, why waste a trip to the electronic recycle place - time to go through all that computer crap overflowing the shelves in the office?  But I couldn't do it by myself so I asked Doug for help.

We've just spent the better part of two days (and by we, I mean mostly him) taking crap down off the shelves, sorting through the various boxes and stuff, and then tossing the item into the appropriate bin for dealing with next week.

Is the office tidy?  No.  Far from it!  I am me, after all.

But I no longer feel like I'm working in a avalanche zone.  There are things that still need to be dealt with, but I'll keep working on those.  The recycle stuff will be gone and one load of clutter will be removed from the house.  

Trying to get my shit together is a long, drawn out affair.  We have lived in this house for 50 years.  I've run a business out of my basement and the office - a complex one, because weaving and teaching weaving *is* complex.  I've had to learn new technology - at least as well as I could in order to use it.  

Now I'm in my twilight years, and I need to keep moving forward.  I need to keep trying.  Keep clearing out clutter.  Because I don't want to saddle him or my friends after I go.  Or at least any more than I can help it.

Making these decisions isn't always easy.  There are still things I can't let go of - yet.  But I consider this work that we did the Best Christmas Present.  Ever.

Memories

 

In doing a clear out of the office, I found this notice of my father's death in 1975.

This time of year has become a bit of a memory hole.  My father's birthday was Nov. 21.  My brother's birthday was Dec. 2.  And while I rarely remember death dates, I always remember birth dates.

The office clear out is happening due to needing a new printer.  As I looked at the shelves of...things...lining the walls of the room (a very tiny room, truth be told) I realized most of what was stored there was redundant.

Old computer program manuals, antique computer stuff.  I mean who knew that CDs would blow through and become irrelevant so quickly?  (Yes, I still have a large tube of blank CDs, don't judge me.)

My father didn't read.  Not that he didn't want to, he never really learned.  But he respected education and encouraged both of us kids to get an education.  I was targeted by the school system as being 'smart' - enough to potentially go to university.  If I had I would have been the first in the family - both sides. But that never happened, in part because dad got sick and there was no money to send me to Vancouver.  Instead I got a very good paying job out of high school at the telephone company and suggested that I would like to take a 'gap' year and travel to Sweden to meet my pen friend.  I didn't think either parent would be in favour, but surprisingly they were amazingly supportive, saying that if I didn't squander my paycheque I could continue to live at home rent free and save my money for the trip.

Then followed all the planning - how to get over there, etc.  (Train across Canada, freighter from Montreal to Oslo, then figuring out the train to Örebrö. etc.  Then how to get home again - train to Stockholm, taxi to Arlanda, fly to Vancouver.)

When this little clipping from the local newspaper dropped out of one of the books I was taking off the shelf, memories whelmed up.  The year dad died.  The year I chose to become a weaver.  And all the twists and turns my life went through to get me here, to this place and time.  

All the support I received from my brother to bring my dreams into being (Magic in the Water).  And how people say that it is a 'classic' of the craft.  I'm still taken aback when I see that - except that I worked damned hard to produce it.  So I am incredibly grateful that so many people still find it helpful and useful 22 years later.

Since then, 3 more books.  Years of writing articles.  Years of schlepping around the continent teaching for guilds.  Etc.

And mostly the town I live in knows nothing of this.  When my brother died it was nearly standing room only in the church.  When my mom died, the hall was nearly full.  When I die?  Well, I have a few friends, but honestly?  It's not a big deal if it's a small gathering.  Most of my 'friends' are 'away'.

There is nothing like doing a serious de-clutter to start you thinking about things.  Maybe things I should have been thinking about before now.  But taking care of things seems like a timely activity right now.  And no one really knows how long they have on this mortal coil, so dealing with one's mess is not a bad thing.  It just stirs up so many memories!

But I did decide to keep one binder that was on the shelf.  The mock up of the original Magic in the Water.  I just can't seem to make myself throw it in the recycle bin.  Not yet, anyway.

Mockup with the blank page to hold the samples (before and after wet finishing), photo of the finished item - 3 piece suit, and the draft info.  The printer wanted to make sure he understood what I wanted and did a test run in black and white to make sure.  That was the day I knew I had A Book...

Holiday Season

 

I suppose if I want to sell more books/classes I need to keep reminding people of how and where to find them?

As usual, 3 of my books are available in either pdf or print versions at Blurb.  I'm actually quite proud of this one, but it doesn't seem to have gained much traction.  I sent promo copies out and so far as I know none of them were 'reviewed'.  They can be purchased at Blurb.  It is a collection of 'essays' ranging from thoughts about weaving to some actual technical information.  I documented the development of the line of tea towels I wove two years ago in this book.

My 'memoir' is available at ko-fi as pdf download only.  A Thread Runs Through It talks about some of the things I did as a professional production weaver.  And some of the things I learned - about myself and others, not to mention a tonne of stuff about weaving and being in the business of weaving.

My classes are still available at School of Sweet Georgia and Long Thread media.  Might make a nice gift for a new weaver.

As North America (in particular) enters this holiday season, I send light and love to everyone.  

Above all, be kind.  And if you can't be kind, cut annoying people out of your life.  You don't need that kind of negativity.  Not now, not ever.

KISS

 

warping valet - notice the lease sticks position - high up near the ceiling.  Pull the lease sticks through the warp, not the warp through the lease sticks; sticky warp can be assisted by turning the leading lease stick to create a 'shed' to open the threads up and prevent them from sticking to each other; wind 2 ends at a time and the yarn will be better behaved, etc.

Weaving is complex.  There are layers and layers of 'it depends' considerations that make the craft a constant source of puzzlement.  Complexity that asks 'what if' over and over again.  Because change one thing, and everything can change.

The process of weaving consists, in large part, the act of designing, then physically making the warp and getting it mounted into the loom.  Again, a long list of precise actions that need - for the most part - to be done in a particular order.  Not just that, but paying attention to things like centering the warp, controlling the warp (I think about controlling the warp as an entity, not individual threads), then accurately entering it into the heddles and reed with the last preparatory step tying on and then, and only then, can you 'prove' the set up (check for errors) and weave your sample (if you haven't done that already).

There being many slip betwixt cup and lip, there may be issues that need to be addressed.

I've been asked to do The Weaver's Toolbox for a guild in January.  In that presentation I talk about the different between the mechanics of the 3 'common' handlooms, and discuss other tools/processes that weavers may find useful.

There are many many 'hacks' that people have come up with, but generally I find that if I look to the 'traditional' hacks, there is useful information and methods to 'fix' what I need to get fixed.  Yes, you can do all sorts of different things, but I find some of them are labour intensive and do not help me in terms of processing the information I need to complete the task of dressing the loom.

That said - everyone processes information in their own way - everyone has to work out what works best for them.  But I hope that they try the 'traditional' way and see if they work.

I hear criticism from new weavers about using a temple.  Too slow, they say.  I scratch the breast beam, they complain.  I don't want to advance the fell that often.

But here's the thing.  Using a temple can be absolutely necessary.  If it isn't, I don't use it.  But when the time comes that I see it must be used, I drag one out (I have several, of various lengths) and set my mind to the face that working slower will bring me the results I desire more quickly that *not* using the temple.  

But!  It must be used effectively!

The length of the temple needs to bring the fell width to the same width of the warp in the reed.  The temple needs to hold the warp under tension and that means the warp width in the reed, not the warp width once draw-in has happened.  And draw-in will happen quickly, so the temple needs to be advanced every inch or 2.5 cm.  You do *not* need to stop and advance the fell.  But you do need to advance the temple.  The teeth of the temple should never ever come anywhere close to the breast beam.

Why might I use the temple?

When I'm weaving about 30" or wider using a fine yarn.  The selvedges draw in and the selvedge ends get very unco-operative.  The shed does not open cleanly and there are shuttle mishaps leading to skips and floats.

When I'm weaving a denser cloth and want the weft to pack in more tightly.

I do not use a temple to 'fix' my selvedge - it there to make the cloth to the quality I need it to be.  Selvedges - in my loom - tend to take care of themselves.

As for a warping valet, people say they don't have room.  I have had almost zero room to use one and it is *why* I use one.  I can beam a warp in under 10 minutes, all by myself, with no issues with things going badly.  Some people complain because they don't want to 'waste' time rough sleying the reed.  I wind up with better quality of cloth by taking a few minutes to do that task.

Again, going slower to get the actual results you want is not a 'waste of time'.  

I don't use floating selvedges, but I know how to use them in case I ever hit a situation or cloth where one is required.  So that knowledge is absolutely in my toolbox.

I beam with tension - hopefully the same degree of tension as what I will apply during weaving and I use firm warp packing.  Yes, it takes up more space on the beam, but I rarely beam more than 13 meters on the small floor loom and the wooden blinds will allow for that.  Honestly, how many hand weavers routinely beam more than 10 meters, anyway?

So while there are all sorts of 'hacks' being shared in weaving groups on line and elsewhere, I ask myself if using them will save me grief or take more time than doing it the way I've been doing it for decades?  If I can make the case of changing what I need to do, then I will change what I do.  Been there, done that - from how I thread, to figuring out how to use the warping valet, to changing how I sley, all have been changed when I saw the benefit to changing.

My method of dressing the small loom using a warping board to wind the warp etc., has been refined over decades.  

When a new weaver is confronted with an issue or problem, I suggest that they think the process through.  And keep in mind the time honoured acronym KISS - Keep It Simple, Silly.

Weaving should not be a headache.  Most problems can be solved.  And usually each weaver needs to find the 'best' solution for themselves.

Because it depends!  And sometimes it is faster to go slower to get the results you want.  

**check the 'warping valet' tag to get all the posts I've tagged with that label for details on the warping valet...

Beatrix Potter and the Herdwick Sheep

 

Beatrix Potter and the Herdwick Sheep

Last night we watched a program about Beatrix Potter and her deep connection to the Lake District.  I had forgotten about the work she did to help the Herdwick Sheep thrive.

As a child I knew about Beatrix Potter, but she wasn't my favourite author.  And largely I didn't pay much attention to her as a person.  It was only later that I began to learn much about her.  The program was a great re-introduction to Potter as a person beyond the author and artist that she was best known for.

There are a number of spinners who have written books about the different sheep breeds, if you want to know more about them.  The one I'm most familiar with is the one by Robson and Ekarius. The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook.

But there are others, as well, all of them an enormous labour of love given how much work and effort went into each and every one of them.

And this is why I hate the LLM plagiarism machines.  They scrape the contents of such books and grind them up, spitting them back out with half of the actual technical information mere dust by the time they are done with it.  If you decide to learn via AI, please be aware that the citations may not be real, and the actual information has been twisted into nothing resembling actual facts.

Same with textile science books.  Go to the actual source.  Last I counted I had something like 11 different textile science books.  Some are really deep dives, some more overviews, some have great comparison charts, some look at areas that I haven't found elsewhere.  And sometimes I like to check a few different resources to make sure they are on the same page.  Or maybe the knowledge has grown and there is more up-to-date information than what was available in the late 1900s (yes, some of my books original printing dates are from then - and I love them!)

But watching the program on Potter, I was reminded how lengthy and rich our history is - all of it.  And there are lessons to be learned, people to recognize for their contributions to that history.

Above all, keep learning, keep adding to your foundation of knowledge.  And remembering that we stand on the shoulders of giants, every one of us.

Generosity

 

This is a scarf woven by a friend and gifted to me.  There is no one who appreciates a hand woven gift as much as another weaver, especially if it is something different than they might usually weave.

As usual with such gifts, it went into my teaching box as an example I wanted to share with other weavers.  But now that I'm trying to deal with my studio, I'm having to think carefully what I do with my teaching 'samples'.

And that's the thing.  After the best part of 50 years of weaving, most of them were also devoted to teaching in some way.  So I have a *lot* of samples!  

Lately I've been hearing of younger weavers who are also teaching, accumulating dozens (more!) of samples.  So when new weavers are aghast at the thought of sampling, I think about all the samples I have woven over the years, and how many samples I know that have been woven by other weavers over the years, and yes.  I can say without qualification that I do still sample.

I just pitched an idea to WEFT and qualified what I wanted to do with the caveat that in order to do the project I will have to sample.  I'm sure that comes at no surprise to anyone who knows me.

Today I am hoping to clear out some 'antique' computer stuff.  Since I've owned a computer since 1987 or thereabouts, I have carefully kept boxes, manuals, disks etc.  But I realized most of that clutter is redundant and needs to be dealt with.  The impetus for the clear out is that I needed to replace the printer and since a trip to the electronic recycle place was in order, it seems like a good time to get rid of decades (literally) of computer stuff.  Manuals will go into the paper recycling and the equipment to the electronic recycling depot.

Because it is becoming ever more apparent that the clutter and mess that I've lived with all my life needs to be dealt with and now feels like the time.  We have lived in this house since 1975 and turned a smallish house into our home *and* studio - a studio in which I've done quite a lot of *big* projects.  And if you are to be efficient, you need the space to move and shift things as they, well, progress.  Since I didn't have a lot of space, I had to get creative.  And frankly I never was interested in the Good House keeping Award.  Good thing because no one would ever say that my house is an example of *that*.

At any rate, I am hearing more reports of Big Projects being done by younger weavers, which I find very exciting.  Stay tuned and I'll share info when it is time.

Meanwhile, my books remain available at blurb either print or pdf, and Ko-fi in pdf only and check out WEFT magazine for the latest article

Classes are still there at School of Sweet Georgia with 4 classes and Long Thread Media  with a couple different classes in a couple different formats.

For What It's Worth

 

New weavers don't always realize that there is a name for that space through which the shuttle runs to get the weft from one side to the other.  It's called a 'shed'.

They also don't always realize that for centuries looms did not have a shuttle race, and panic when they get their 'new' loom and it doesn't have one.

But here's the thing - for centuries looms didn't have a shuttle race and people wove very well without.  Because the only reason a shuttle race came about was during the 1700s and the development of the flying shuttle.

On my Leclerc Fanny, which is a counter balanced action loom, it doesn't come with a shuttle race.  It doesn't come with a fly shuttle.  

I've just been asked to do a presentation on The Weaver's Toolbox.  It is during this presentation that I explain the (broad) differences between counter balanced, jack and counter march looms.

Along with other things.  But still, if weavers don't understand the physics/mechanics of their loom, it is difficult to know what is  going wrong, or even IF something is wrong.   

New weavers don't generally understand the mechanics and physics of weaving in the first place, never mind the more subtle effects of things like twist and tension.  There are a variety of things at play in making a cloth and to not understand the basics of how a loom works can lead to misunderstandings and frustrations.

So the other day I suggested to someone online that part of their issues was related to weaving outside of the 'sweet spot' and they would be better off advancing the fell more frequently and keeping it further away from the reed/beater.  As usual someone spoke up and said they hated advancing the fell so they would keep weaving until they were really close to the reed.

When they would get better results if they simply figured out where the loom worked to best mechanical advantage and how big the sweet spot for their loom actually is, and not try to force it to keep going beyond that range.  

Advance the fell too close to the breast beam and you risk not being able to beat the weft in properly so you wind up with inconsistent/streaked cloth.  Push the fell too close to the reed and you risk weft loops developing along the selvedge and difficulty beating the weft in as well as not being able to 'throw' the shuttle but wind up needing to push it through one side to the other, stressing the warp yarns and possibly risking broken warp ends.  The rhythm of catching and throwing the shuttle gets interrupted and it gets harder to 'seat' the weft at the selvedge.

But hey, if you are happy?

Working within the mechanical limits of your tools makes the job go easier and you can get closer to having consistent results.  And if you can't be perfect, be consistent.

Learning how to hold and throw/catch the shuttle ergonomically, how to tension your warp, and staying within the sweet spot, will go a long way towards happier weaving.

But you know what free advice is worth.